German Beef and Barley Bake

Submitted by Molly53

"This casserole may be made ahead of time and refrigerated. To reheat, bake at 350 degrees 20 to 30 minutes or microwave (in a microwave-safe casserole) on Medium High until heated through. From the National Barley Foods Council posted in response to a recipe request."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1⁄2 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 4 slices bacon, diced
• 3 cups tomato juice
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 -4 cups sliced green cabbage
• 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Saute beef, onions, and garlic in a large saucepan over medium heat.
3. Pour off grease.
4. Add barley and bacon; sauté 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Stir in tomato juice, salt and pepper and bring to a low boil.
6. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes.
7. Stir in cabbage and caraway seeds.
8. Spoon mixture into 2-quart casserole.
9. Bake for 30 minutes.
10. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese melts.
11. Makes 6 servings.

Reviews

[Mustang Sally 54269]

We like this dish & the addition of pearl barley & bacon. I have to agree with other reviewers that you have to like the strong/unique flavour of caraway to fully appreciate this recipe. I cut mine back to 1 tsp of caraway & it wasn't overpowering for us but I'd get a pow of flavour on occasional bite. Next time I'll add the caraway seed 1/2 way through stove top simmering along with the cabbage (we like ours less crunchie) to see if the caraway flavour blends together more. We enjoyed this recipe, thanks for sharing.

 

[Lizgirl]

I loved this recipe. I used only 1 tsp. of caraway seed because I consider them kind of strong. Boy was this good. Also I added the caraway seeds to the tomato juice when I cooked the barley for 30 minutes. This put flavor right into the sauce and barley. I kept the rest of the recipe the same but I extened the baking time to 1 hour. I like my cabbage a bit softer. 30 minutes wouldn't do for me. One other thing I had to do was add an additional cup of tomato juice after the barley cooked in the pan for 30 minutes. I have an electric stove and can't set the heat any lower than the knob will allow. So my sauce almost dissapeared. The additional 1 cup of tomato juce helped sustain the recipe for baking 1 hour. I will make this on a regular basis. Thanks!

 

[TattooedMamaof2]

This was such comfort food for me! I used ground turkey and turkey bacon, so the flavor was different I'm sure. I only used 1/2 t caraway that I ground up a bit with my mortar and pestle. I used 2 cans of V8 and apple juice to make up the remaining 3 cups. I baked it for 45 minutes and didn't add any cheese, but I did serve it with sour cream. Thank you so much for this recipe!

 

[Lori Mama]

This was very nice. I had to use a 15 oz. can of tomato sauce, with added water, to get the 3 cups of juice I didn't have on hand. I also skipped the caraway seeds, because my family doesn't care for them and I added an extra cup of cheese.:)

 

[Babushka]

I also skipped the caraway seeds and added 1 tsp of dill. Another change was to use soy crumbles instead of ground beef and 2% cheddar instead of regular. Probably cut the fat in half by doing so. Flavor was very good and even my skeptical husband enjoyed the meal! Will make again for sure.